GRADUATE FOG‘S FOUNDER ON THE FUTURE OF FREELANCE JOURNALISM
Tanya de Grunwald has been a freelance features writer for women’s magazines including GLAMOUR, Cosmpolitan and Grazia, since 2002. She shares her wisdom with Graduate Fog readers keen to pursue a career as a freelance print journalist…
“I find graduates are often confused about what it actually means to be a freelance journalist – and that it’s somehow completely separate from the rest of journalism, when in fact it is just a way of working. Being freelance simply means that you are paid per article and can write for as many different titles as you like. And, of course, you don’t work in the publication’s office. The only time you do that is if you’re invited in to do holiday or maternity cover for permanent staff.
“I don’t recommend anybody starts out by freelancing. I did it but it took three years before I got my first staff job. During that time I was mainly doing holiday cover and short contracts for new launches. I wasn’t pitching and writing commissions from home – that’s a really bad way to start your career. Instead, try to get work experience, short-term editorial assistant holiday cover (which should be paid) and then go for editorial assistant jobs.
“Most freelance journalists I know started off like that – working in-house for a magazine or newspaper. Then when they decided they wanted to keep writing (as opposed to climbing the editorial ladder, becoming a section editor who is unlikely to write much) they will ‘go freelance’. Female journalists also often go freelance when their children are small as it means they can work from home and take on as many or as few commissions as little as they like.
“I think Carrie Bradshaw has given a lot of girls some funny ideas about freelance journalism. As a reality check, doing that one weekly 500-word column, I reckon she’d be making about £1,000 a month – before tax! Also, very few journalists start out writing columns about themselves or their own opinions. As one editor said to me, ‘Sweetie, you have to be a ‘somebody’ before anybody cares what you think about anything.’ Harsh but fair.
“Another misconception about freelance journalism is that the writing is the hardest part – when in fact that’s by far the easiest bit! The big challenge is ensuring I have a steady stream of work, which takes planning. However much I have on, I need to constantly pitch new ideas so there are always new things in the pipeline.
“I’m lucky that I’m pretty well established now, so around half of my commissions are for features my editors have invited me to write because we’ve worked together in the past. But when you’re starting out, nobody will ring you. The only stories you’ll write are ones you’ve pitched – and pitching is hard work with a low ‘hit’ rate.
“Have freelance journalists been hit by the recession? Absolutely – the whole industry has been badly affected. Publications are closing, fees are dropping and lots of journalists are being made redundant. Things don’t look likely to improve any time soon – the recession is only part of the problem. The real problem is the impact of the Internet.
“The way readers consume content – and the fact they have grown accustomed to accessing it for free online – has changed all the rules and triggered a crisis. Every journalist I know is worried (writers and editors, freelance and staff) – and many are setting up alternative careers as an escape route. All the magazines and newspapers are scrambling to find a solution – because at the moment they’re facing a very serious problem. And remember, this is just about the only industry that it’s not an option for the government to bail out, if things get really bad. The idea of a state-funded press sends shivers down the industry’s spine.
“To anybody thinking about starting a career in print journalism, I’d urge you to be flexible and consider learning the art of writing content for digital media instead – that’s writing for blogs, websites, mobile and Twitter. Digital is booming – print is declining. I never like to be a downer and tell graduates what they are – or aren’t – capable of but if I told you it was a good idea to start a career in print journalism in 2010, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.
“The good news is that I hear the digital space is crying out for good writers. The web has created hundreds of thousands of websites – but how often do you read online copy that’s really well-written? Friends in digital predict that the next big thing will be an improvement in the quality of online written content. People are sick of reading badly written rubbish. So, if think you can do it better, step up – your skills are in hot demand!”
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Hello,
I just wanted to say how helpful your advice pages are on journalism. They are also reinforcing what other people in the industry keep advising me- that the internet and digital media are the way forwards.
Also, I’d be grateful for your advice and opinion. I graduated in 2009 (not in media), and have since done various internships working in a press office of a political party, writing news pieces for a charity website, and am now writing a few news stories for a hyper-local news website. All either unpaid or very low paid internships. I’ve done a social media course and my next plan is to start a blog on food and farming, as this is my personal and academic background. I’ve got lots of contacts in the related industries and am going to seek their advice on whether they think there is a gap for the type of things I would write about. Then I plan to intergrate it with facebook and twitter and hopefully try to market it well. The idea is that at the very least it will give me further experience in interview technique, writing for blogs, and generally working in social media. Do you think this is a good way forwards? If no one else will publish me, I will publish myself!
Also, the idea of writing for online media is relatively new to me and I wondered if it involved mainly working from home with no colleagues or interaction with people and just regurgitating stories that the ‘real’ journalists are researchinga nd interviewing for? I don’t want to get myself stuck into sitting at a computer non-stop for 10 hours a day with no social interaction!
Many thanks- you’re website is great!
@Jez
Thanks for your kind words about Graduate Fog : )
I’m afraid I can’t get into giving one-to-one advice on GF (or I’d never have any time to do anything else) – but as I suspect your query is one that a lot of journalism grads are asking themselves, I thought I’d give a brief response on this occasion (plus I’m putting off doing some other work – can you tell?!)
Right, it sounds to me like you are a classic ‘serial intern‘ – and to me your situation is a perfect illustration of why this internships madness has got to stop. Yes, there is a risk that enforcing the NMW laws might slightly reduce the number of internships available – but the current situation is far worse. Too many graduates are in exactly your position, doing endless placements, gaining experience, but guess what? Several internships later you still feel as if you are no closer to a real job – because there aren’t any junior jobs – just more unpaid / low-paid internships!
It is typical to get to a certain point and think ‘Do I need to give up – or change tack?’ so well done for acknowledging that your are now at this point (I agree that you are). You are right to realise that you can’t endlessly go on doing unpaid internships, as tempting as it is to believe that if you do this for long enough something will eventually ‘break’ for you. It might, but it might not. There are no guarantees – and thanks to the number of universities that have cashed in by flogging far too many places on easy-to-sell media-related courses, there is an insane amount of competition.
You say that you had not really familiar with online journalism. That worries me a bit. Does that mean you saw a life-long career for yourself in print journalism? Frankly it makes me furious that universities are still peddling the myth that this is a possibility. IMO the Internet has been a total game-changer. That’s one of the reasons why I started Graduate Fog – because I can feel that the tide has already turned against print and that the future is online.
As for your blog, I think you need to be realistic about the chances of making money from it. I’ve been running GF for over a year now, and it has earned me less than £1,000. Although that’s more than I’ve spent on it (hurrah! – not many websites can say that!) it has taken a huge amount of work, none of which I have been paid for. I don’t mind this because a) I LOVE my subject area b) I love seeing GF growing and c) I think it will not be long before I can make some money from this website. But that is my judgment, after taking a lot of good advice from experts that really understand the online game.
What should you do next? Well, that depends on what you really believe you’ve best at – and what drives you. I think you might need to have another think about this – as it’s not clear from your comment what your passion is, or what exactly it is about journalism that you’re passionate about. Do you love the actual writing? Or is it reporting / uncovering stories that interests you? Or are you just in love with the IDEA of being a journalist? (Sorry but i have you ask – you’d be amazed how many grads this applies to). Journalists are brilliant at presenting what they do as the most fun, sexy job in the world – but the reality is very different. Most journalists (esp those starting out now) are extremely low paid, and a lot of the people they work with (on newspapers particularly) are not lovely sorts. All publications are looking at cutting their costs – and junior positions and salaries are the first place they look. I think that alone says a lot about the industry – it is one that does not value its young talent – in fact, they are prepared to squeeze and squeeze their young until only those with private incomes can afford to stick with it. Are you sure you want to work in an industry like that? As for the low pay once you get a job, most 21-year-olds say you don’t care because you’ll be doing what you love. But believe me, when you get to 30 and you’re earning a fraction of what all your friends in proper professions are earning, you will care a LOT more. They will start buying houses and having children, and you won’t be able to afford to do either of those things comfortably.
Which ever aspect of journalism you feel most appeals to you, I would urge you to see how this skill / passion is applicable ONLINE. IMO (and remember it’s only MY opinion), trying to START a print journalism career in 2011 is like running into a burning building. I would also look at growing companies that are at the forefront of social media and its applications to the business world. A friend of mine has been the online community manager for Orange and now Cadbury’s. She gets paid FAR better than I do – and her expertise has a future!
I hope this is helpful in some way -
I’m sorry it’s not better news but as you know GF doesn’t do phoney…
: )
Tanya
Very tough times, my friend is a qualified journo who has been trying to get into a position for umpteen years – he is still working as an English teacher in London and has offered his services for free ven!